Crowds gather around the Sacrifice statue following today's dedication ceremony at the Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Memorial. (The Huntsville Times/Paul Gattis)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Under spectacular sunny skies on a cool autumn day, the Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Memorial was unveiled before an overflow crowd and swelled hearts.

The $3.1 million park in downtown Huntsville includes a center fountain, the tallest American flag in North Alabama, a statue of two soldiers rescuing a third and black granite markers with the names of all Madison County veterans who gave their lives for their country. Officials said 367 names are engraved in the park.

"This is a tremendous facility and makes us all proud," U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said.

After the ceremony ended, people walked the park grounds -- located on Monroe Street between Washington and Jefferson streets -- to study the markers and search for names of loved ones. Roses were already being placed at the base of markers.

"It's magnificent," said Annette Hall, whose son Jeffrey Alan Hall was killed in Afghanistan on June 1, 2009. Hall and other family members were taking pictures of the Afghanistan marker while holding a large portrait of her son.

As he spoke from the podium about the park, Bill Stender -- one of the original movers that got the project in motion -- broke down and couldn't continue.

"It's wrong to be prideful," Stender said after the ceremony, "but we're proud of this."

Police did not have an estimate of the crowd at the ceremony but crowds were spread across three city blocks for the ceremony while awaiting the parade.

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Drolet, another of the original team on the project, said from the podium that the crowd was "much larger than we expected."

Among dignitaries at the ceremony were U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, Brooks, Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie, members of the Madison County legislative delegation and Madison Mayor Paul Finley.

When it came his time to speak at the podium, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle summoned a photographer from The Times to the podium and asked for a photo of the crowd waving their hand-held flags. As the crowd waved, Battle pulled out his cell phone and snapped pictures, too.

"That's the photo that should be in The Times tomorrow," Battle said.

The ceremony was briefly marred by a one-car accident at Monroe and Jefferson. The car flipped over but soldiers at the ceremony hurried over and turned it back over to make sure no one was underneath.

Police said the driver and three bystanders were taken to the hospital, but their injuries were not life-threatening.